Press



April 27, 1943.

M. H. BALLARD 2,317,432

PRESS Filed Feb. 4, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 1943- M. H. BALLARD 2,317,432

PRESS Filed Feb. 4, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 27, 1943 PRESS Milton H. Ballard, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application February 4, 1941, Serial No. 377,345

Claims. (Cl. 164-21) This invention relates to presses and is herein illustrated as embodied in a clicking machine for dieing out blanks from sheet material.

Machines of this type commonly comprise a cutting bed, a vertically movable post, and an arm or beam secured to the post and movable over the cutting bed about the axis of the post, means being provided for reciprocating the post and the beam to cause the beam to apply pressure to a die placed in a selected position on a piece of sheet material supported on the cutting bed, and thereby to force the die through the sheet material, such as leather, to cut out a blank.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved clicking machine which shall operate smoothly and effectively with the expenditure of but little power and which may be easily started irrespective of the angular position of the arm.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, the arm or beam referred to above is immovable vertically and supports a presser member-of relatively small size, as compared with the arm, the presser member being caused to move downwardly with relation to the arm upon initiation of the power operation of the machine to apply pressure to the die. The power operation of the machine is initiated by means of a manually operable mechanism, one part of which is mounted on the horizontally swingable arm and another part of which is mounted on the machine frame. The connecting means between these two parts of the manually operable initiating mechanism is disposed substantially in alinement with the axis of rotation of the arm, so that the power operation of the machine may be initiated with ease in any angular position of the arm. Moreover, the illustrated machine is provided with power-actuated mechanism for reciprocating the presser member, and similarly one part of this mechanism is mounted in the machine frame and another part in the abovementioned arm supporting the presser member. The arrangement is such that the connecting means between these two parts of the power-actuating mechanism is disposed in alinement with the axis of rotation of the arm, so that the presser member may be reciprocated in any desired angular position of the arm.

Other objects of the invention and features of construction will be apparent from the following description and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a clicking machine illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View of the machine taken on the line 11-11: of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an end View of the presser member and its support with certain parts broken away.

Referring to Fig. 1, the illustrated clicking machine comprises a C-shaped frame Ill containing bearings I2 and I4 for a casting I6 of generally U-shaped cross section and supporting at its lower end a cutting bed I8 adjustable vertically by means not shown. The casting I6 is rotatable about a substantially vertical axis and is provided at its upper and lower extremities with pivotal extensions II and I3 seated in the bearings I2 and I4. To facilitate the removal of the casting I6 from the machine, the upper bearing I4 is semi-circular and has secured to it a correspondingly shaped removable bearing portion 2E2. On top of the bearing portions I4 and 20 is provided a roller thrust bearing 22 held in place by a collar 24, surrounding the upper extension I3 of the casting I6 and bearing a cap plate 26 secured to the upper end face of the casting I6 by means of screws 28.

The casting I5 carries a supporting arm 30 for a presser member 3| in the form of a striking plate adapted to be moved relatively to the arm 38 to apply pressure to a die placed upon a piece of sheet material on the cutting bed I3. To secure the supporting arm 38 firmly to the casting IS, the upper portion of the arm is provided with laterally and oppositely extending flanges 32 held in abutting relation to similarly arranged flanges 34 on the casting I6 by means of screw bolts 36. Similarly, the lower portion of the supporting arm 30 is providedwith laterally and oppositely extending flanges 38 held in abutting relation to similarly arranged flanges 40 on the casting I5 by screw bolts 42. It will be noted that the arm 30, by reason of its attachment to the casting I6, may be rotated in a horizontal plane substantially parallel to the top face of the cutting bed IE, but that it is immovable in a vertical direction. The horizontal movement of the arm 30 serves to position the presser member 3! over the cutting die on any portion of the top of the cutting bed prior to the initiation of the power operation of the machine during which a vertical reciprocation is imparted to the presser member with relation to its supporting arm 30.

In order to reciprocate the presser member 3! in a substantially vertical direction relatively to the arm 39, to cause the presser member 3i to apply pressure to the die and immediately thereafter to be moved into inoperative position, power-actuated mechanism supported in the arm 30 is provided. As illustrated best in Fig. 2, the arm 30 carries in suitable bearings three parallel shafts 44, 46 and 48, equally spaced apart and extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the arm 38. The three shafts 44, 46, 48 serve as pivotal connections between the upper ends of a series of toggles (Fig. 1) and the arm 39. The lower ends of the toggles are pivotally secured to the presser member 3|, the latter thus being supported by the toggles. In the illustrated form of the invention, there are provided six toggles which will now be described. Secured on the lefthand portion of the shaft 44, as viewed from the front of the machine, is the upper end of a .tog-

gle link 56 pivotally connected its lower end to a toggle link 52 (Fig. l), the lower end of the latter being pivotally secured to a boss provided at the top face of the presser member 3i imilarly, a toggle link 56 is secured at its upper end on the right-hand portion of the shaft 44 and is connected to .a toggle link 58, the lower endv of which is :pivotally secured .to another boss provided on the .presser member 3?; Theshaft 46 serves in a manner similar to the shaft 44 as the upper fulcrum for two toggles 6Q, '62 and 94, .66,

connecting the shaft 46 and arm 3i? with corresponding bosses on the top face of the presser member 3!. Finally, the shaft 58 is connected to corresponding bosses on the presser member 3i by means of similarly arranged toggles 58, 19 and l2, 74. In the broken positions of'the six toggles. as illustrated in Fig. l 01' the drawings, the presser member .521 .is maintained in its elevated inoperative position and, upon movement of the toggles into the extended positions by mechanism which will be presently described, the presser member 3! is moved downwardly with relation to the supporting arm 33 to apply pressure to the die placed upon the work resting on the cutting bed l8. For the purpose of causing the presser member 3! to move in a substantially rectilinear path during its up and down movements, a link '15 (Figs. 1 and 3) is pivotally mounted at one end on the pivot pin that connects the toggle link 70 to the correspondingboss on the presser member Slyand at its other end to a boss provided in the'supporting arm 38. The length of the link 75 is suflloient to ensure a substantially straight vertical reciprocation of presser member 3!, although strictly speaking I the end of the link T pivotaily connected. to the presser member 3! moves in an arc during the vertical reciprocation of the presser member, it being understood, however, that the'extent of the vertical movements of the presser member is-oniy relatively small.

To actuate the toggles and thereby to reciprocate the presser member 3|, the center joints-of all toggles 59, 52 and 66, 62 and-68, 78 located at the left-hand side of the arm'iiil, as seen iromthe front of the machine, are connected by a horizontal bar 18, and similarly, the'center joints of all toggles 56, 58 and 64, Hand i2, 14 located at theright-hand side of the arm 3 3-are connected by a horizontal bar '18 (Fig. 2). The left-hand extremities of both bars 76 and W are 'pivotally secured by pins 19 to a'yoke-shaped 80 pivotally connected at 8! -(Figs. 1 and 2) to an upwardly extending arm of a bell crank lever 82 mounted to rock about a shaft 84 secured in the arm 30. Counter-clockwise rotation of the bell crank lever 82, as viewed in 1, causes a displacement of the bars l6, l8 toward the left of Fig. 2 with the result that the toggles are moved into their extended positions and the presser member 3i moved downwardly to apply pressure to the die.

To hold the above-described toggles in their broken positions with the presser member 3| in its elevated inoperative position, the toggle link 56 has an upwardly extending portion 86 (Fig. 1) connected by a spring 88 to the above mentioned upwardly extending arm of the bell crank lever 82 To rotate the bell crank lever 82 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, the following mechanism is provided. The substantially horizontally extending arm of the bell crank lever is cup-shaped and provided with a central bore. Seated in the cup-shaped portion of this arm is a semi-spherical member 99, secured. to a rod 92 extending downwardly through the central bore in the horizontal arm of the bell crank lever. The rod 92 is disposed in alinement with the axis of rotation of the casting l6 and the supporting arm 39. Up anddownv movements .are imparted to the rod 92. by .a crank pin 94 surrounded by a strap to which the lower end of the rod 192 i secured. The crank pin 94 is provided at the right-hand extremity of a horizontal shaft 96 (Fig. l) mounted in bearings in the lower portion .of the frame In and rotated by means of a one-revolution clutch 98 connected with a pulley or flywheel H38. It will be noted that part of the presser-actuating mechanism, in particular the shaft 96, is immovable as a unit in view of its mounting in the frame It, and that another part ofthatmechanism, in particular the abovedescribed toggles, the bell crank lever Bland the bars l6, 178, is mounted in the arm .33 and, hence, participates in the swinging movements of the arm 38. Accordingly, by mounting the rod 92 which may be regarded as the connecting element between the stationary and movable parts of the ,presser-actuating mechanism, in .alinementwith the axis of rotation of the arm 30, the swinging movements of the arm .38 do not interfere with the operation of the presser-actuating mechanism, so that the latter mechanism may be rendered effective (to operate the presser member 3| in'any angular-position of the arm 38.

In order to trip the clutch 98 and thereby initiate the operation of thepresser member 3|, th arm '30 is provided at its front end. with a vertically movable handle 102 (Fig. 1) engaged by a trip'lever I94 mounted to swing about a pivot pin I 96 secured in the arm 30. The left-hand end of the lever I04 is provided with a recess I05 in which is seated the lower end of a vertically extending rod I68, disposed in alinement with the axis-of rotation of the casting l6 and the arm 30, as well'as with the rod 92. The rod I08 is guided for vertical movement in a bore provided in the upper extension of the casting l6 and its upper end engages a floating link H0 provided with .two slots illustrated in Fig. l. The slots are engaged by rollers H2 and H4 rotatably mounted on the frame Ill. The link H0 is connected by means of a bar H6 to-a clutch tripping member H8. As will b seen, upon downward movement of the handle I02 by the operator the lever -l04-is rotated in a 'clockwisedirection, as viewed in Fig. 1, to impart an upward'movement to the rod- I08 which'in turn causes the link I I0 and the bar I Hi to impart a clutch tripping-movement to the member "-I I8. Engagement of the clutch 98 causes the shaft 96 to make a single complete revolution as a result of which the presser member 3| is reciprocated vertically to apply pressure to the die and to move backinto its inoperative position. Moreover, it will be noted that one part of the above-described mechanism for initiating the power operation of the machine is mounted on the horizontally movable arm 39 and another part on the frame 10, the rod I08 serving as th connecting element between the part mounted on the arm and the part mounted on the frame. Owing to the fact that the rod I08 is disposed in alinement with the axis of rotation of the arm 30, the clutch may be easily tripped by a downward movement of the handle I02 in any angular position of the arm 30 since the leverage effect on the part of the connections between the handle 102 and the clutch 98 always remains the same. This is contrary to commonly used structures in which the leverage effect is reduced the more the presser arm or its equivalent member is swung laterally away from its normal forwardly extending position.

Inasmuch as the arm 30 is immovable vertically, the reactive forces resulting from the application of pressure by the presser member 3| to th die on the cutting bed it are necessarily absorbed by the arm 38. To increase the strength of the arm 30 and its capacity to absorb these reactive forces, the arm 36 is preferably reinforced by struts, as illustrated in Fig. 1. To this end, the above-mentioned collar 24, surrounding the upper extension l3 of the casting i6, is provided with two bosses lZIi into which are threaded tubular rods I22 and H4 (Figs. 1 and 3), the lower ends of which are secured in bosses lit, 528 provided at the top of the arm 39. Obviously, the tubular rods 22 and 424 serve to counteract any tendency to deflect the forward end of the arm 39 upwardly.

In order to strengthen the arm 35! also to counteract any tendency to deflect it downwardly, the casting I6 is provided with bosses iSii (Figs. 1 and 2) into which are threaded the lower extremities of rods I32 and i3 4. The rods converge at their upper ends (Fig. 2) and merge into a single bar 36 conveniently secured to the above mentioned shaft 46,

In the operation of the illustrated machine, the operator grasps the handle 92 and swings the arm 39 horizontally to position the presser member 3! supported thereon over a die previously placed upon the sheet material located on the cutting bed l8. Upon downward movement of the handle IE2, the above-described mechanism for initiating the power-operation of the machine is operated to trip the clutch 98 and thereby to impart a single revolution to the shaft 96, as a result of which the toggles connecting the presser member 34 to the supporting arm 3 are moved into their extended positions and then back again and the presser member 31 itself is caused to strike upon the die so as to cut out a blank from the sheet material. Thereupon, the presser member 31 immediately withdrawn under the power-operation of the shaft 95. The clutch 98 automatically disconnects the shaft 95 from the pulley Hi after one revolution of the shaft with the toggles again assuming their broken positions, in which they are held by the spring 88.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A clicking machine, having in combination a frame, a cutting bed, a casting mounted in the frame for angular motion about a vertical axis, an arm secured to the casting, a presser member carried by the arm and arranged for vertical movement relatively to the arm to apply pressure to a die placed on a piece of sheet material on the cutting bed, a toggle mechanism for actuating the presser member, power means for actuating the toggle mechanism, and means for initiat ing the operation of the power means, one part of the initiating means being disposed in alinement with said vertical axis.

2. A clicking machine, having a cutting bed, a support constrained to move substantially parallel to the cutting bed about a vertical axis, a presser member movable relatively to the support to apply pressure to a die placed on a piece of sheet material on the cutting bed, a toggle for operating the presser member, yielding means for holding the toggle in a broken position and thereby to hold the presser member in its inoperative position, and means for moving the toggle into extended position to impart an operative movement to the presser member.

3. A clicking machine, having in combination a frame, a cutting bed, an arm mounted in the frame for angular movement about a substantially vertical axis, a presser member carried by the arm and arranged for vertical movement relatively to the arm toward and away from the cutting bed, a plurality of toggles mounted upon the arm and operable to actuate the presser member, a member connected to the toggles for operating the same, a bell crank lever fulcrumed in the arm and pivotally connected to the toggle operating member, and a power-actuated connecting rod disposed along said vertical axis for swinging the bell crank, thereby to effect operation of the toggles.

4. A clicking machine, having a frame, a cutting bed mounted on the frame, an arm mounted on the frame for movement across the bed angularly about a vertical axis only, a presser member mounted upon the arm for movement relatively to the arm toward and from the bed, power means for positively moving the presser member toward and away from the bed, a clutch for connecting said power means operatively with the presser member, clutch tripping means carried by the arm, and connections between the clutch and clutch tripping means disposed substantially in alinement with said vertical axis.

5. A clicking machine, having a frame, a cutting bed mounted on the frame, an arm mounted on the frame for movement across the bed angularly about a vertical axis, a presser member mounted upon the arm for movement relatively thereto toward and from the bed, a series of toggles mounted on the arm for operating the presser, a common toggle operating member, a bell crank lever mounted on the arm and connected to the toggle operating member, power means including a crank for rocking the bell crank lever to operate the toggles, and a link having at one end a ball and socket joint con nection with the bell crank lever and being connected at its other end with the crank.

MILTON H. BALLARD. 

